Planetary Society director and forever "Science Guy" Bill Nye has apparently agreed to debate young-earth creationist Ken Ham on February 4th at Ham's sprawling Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. At least Ham says so on his website, and I haven't seen a denial from the Nye camp yet. Opinions are mixed on this, and mine are too -- there's a very real risk that Nye will shine a fresh spotlight on a fading evangelist whose museum has lately been grasping at straws to keep its attendance numbers up. But it's sure to make for great theater.

As he gets set to leave his position as head of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the group primarily responsible for pushing anti-blasphemy resolutions at the UN, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu says OIC states should maybe consider being a little easier on non-Muslims. Hey thanks.

Mother Jonesprofiles Bill Nye (where we learn that President Obama "lights up when he sees Bill"), and meanwhile, Bill agrees to debate Answers in Genesis's Ken Ham on creationism and evolution on February 4, which I think a lot of folks have mixed feelings about.

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

Welcome to yet another jaunt around the Sun, folks.

The New Yorker's Elizabeth Kolbert looks at the life and work of Georges Cuvier, who pioneered the study of species extinction, though rejected early concepts of evolution. It's for subscribers only, but my wife read it in print, which apparently is notextinct.

Here at the Center for Inquiry Libraries, we are lucky enough to own some very interesting materials from famous skeptics, scientists, and scholars. One of the most important collections relating to both skepticism and the history of the skeptical movement are the papers of Martin Gardner.

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

What better way to close out the year than with a huge blow to the head that is Pew's data showing that fully one-third of Americans don't accept evolution, and that a majority of Republicans (you know, the party that controls the House and the Supreme Court) reject it. And, just to make sure you understand that "unaffiliated" or "nones" does not equal "atheist," 20% of the unaffiliated reject evolution as well.